Family Sponsorship in Canada

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) lets Canadian citizens and permanent residents sponsor a foreign national (IRPA s. 13(1)). The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) set out who can sponsor and be sponsored.

Every sponsorship has two applications, submitted together: the sponsor's application and the family member's application for permanent residence. The sponsor signs an undertaking, a legal promise to the Government of Canada (or to Quebec) to support the family member for a set period and to repay any social assistance they receive.

The Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) is paused for new intake; IRCC keeps processing existing applications.

Likely a good fit if:

• You are a citizen, permanent resident or registered Indian, at least 18, and you live in Canada.
• You are a citizen living abroad sponsoring a spouse, partner or dependent child, and you will live in Canada when they become a permanent resident.
• You are married, have lived together for at least 12 consecutive months, or have a conjugal relationship of at least one year.
• You can commit to supporting the person for the whole undertaking period.

Look at other options if:

• You are a permanent resident living outside Canada. You cannot sponsor until you live in Canada.
• You want to bring a parent or grandparent now. New intake is paused, so read about the super visa on the visitor page.
• You were sponsored as a spouse or partner less than 5 years ago and want to sponsor a new spouse or partner.
• You want to sponsor an adult sibling, aunt, uncle or cousin. They qualify only in the narrow cases described below.

You must meet the sponsor requirements from the day you file until IRCC decides (IRPR s. 133(1)).

You may not be eligible to sponsor if you:

• receive social assistance for a reason other than disability
• are behind on an immigration loan, a performance bond, or court-ordered support such as alimony or child support
• did not meet a past sponsorship undertaking, or are an undischarged bankrupt
• are in prison or have a removal order
• were convicted, in or outside Canada, of a sexual offence, a serious violent offence, or an offence causing bodily harm to a family member or relative. A record suspension, an acquittal, or 5 years since the sentence ended (with proof of rehabilitation for foreign convictions) can lift this bar (IRPR s. 133(2) and (3)).

Two extra bars apply to spouses and partners. If you were sponsored as a spouse or partner, you must have been a permanent resident or citizen for at least 5 years before sponsoring a new one (IRPR s. 130(3)). If you sponsored a previous spouse or partner, you must wait until that 3-year undertaking ends (IRPR s. 117(9)(b)).

In Quebec, IRCC does not apply the support payment, sponsorship default and bankruptcy bars. Quebec applies its own requirements.

Spouses and partners. The person must be at least 18 and may be of any gender. A spouse is legally married to you; a marriage abroad must be valid where it took place and under Canadian law. A common-law partner has lived with you continuously for at least 12 consecutive months, with only short absences. A conjugal partner lives outside Canada and has been in an exclusive relationship with you for at least one year, but legal, immigration, social, cultural or religious barriers kept you from marrying or living together.

The bad faith test. Under IRPR s. 4(1), a person is not your spouse or partner if the relationship was entered into mainly to gain immigration status, or if it is not genuine. Either one is enough to refuse. A marriage where a spouse was not physically present at the ceremony is also excluded, apart from a narrow Canadian Forces exception (IRPR s. 5(c)).

No conditional status. The former 2-year conditional permanent residence rule for some sponsored spouses (IRPR s. 72.1) was repealed in 2017 (SOR/2017-56). Sponsored spouses and partners receive full permanent residence.

Open work permit while you wait. Under an IRCC public policy, a sponsored spouse or partner living in Canada with the sponsor, and their accompanying dependent children, can apply online for an open work permit after the AOR is issued. They cannot apply at a port of entry. If their current status expires in 2 weeks or less, they can apply before the AOR. The permit can be extended for 2 years while the permanent residence application is in process.

Dependent children. Your or your partner's biological or adopted child qualifies if they are under 22 and not a spouse or common-law partner, or are 22 or older, have depended on your financial support since before 22, and cannot support themselves because of a physical or mental condition (IRPR s. 2). A child who is already a Canadian citizen cannot be sponsored.

Adopted children. A child adopted abroad, or a child under 18 you plan to adopt in Canada, can be sponsored if the adoption is in the child's best interests, is not mainly for immigration, and has the approvals the province requires (IRPR s. 117(1)(g) and (2) to (4)).

Parents and grandparents. The PGP covers your parents and grandparents by blood or adoption, their spouse or partner, and their dependent children, but only for sponsors IRCC invites. The super visa is the alternative: it allows visits of up to 5 years at a time, with multiple entries for up to 10 years, and 2-year extensions from inside Canada. The visitor page explains its requirements.

Other relatives. You may sponsor an orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild who is under 18, single, and whose parents have both died. Under the lone-relative rule (IRPR s. 117(1)(h)), you may sponsor one relative of any age only if you have no closer relative you could sponsor and no relative who is a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or registered Indian.

Declare everyone. The sponsored person must declare all family members, including children who are not coming. A family member who was not declared and examined when you immigrated generally cannot be sponsored later (IRPR s. 117(9)(d)).

There are no draws or scores for spouses, children or other relatives. IRCC assesses each complete application against the rules.

The PGP works by invitation from a pool of interest to sponsor forms. On July 15, 2026, IRCC paused it: no new interest forms and no invitations until further notice. IRCC plans to approve up to 15,000 people through the PGP in 2026, in line with the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan.

Quebec residents. After IRCC approves you as a sponsor, it tells you when to submit an undertaking application to Quebec's immigration ministry, the Ministère de l'Immigration et de l'Intégration (MII, called MIFI until October 22, 2026). From July 2, 2026 to June 30, 2028, Quebec accepts at most 13,300 undertaking applications for spouses and partners and 2,400 for parents, grandparents and other relatives, and only from the date set in its intake schedule. If you cannot submit to Quebec yet, the permanent residence application waits in IRCC's inventory and cannot be approved until Quebec accepts the undertaking.

1. 1

   Check eligibility and the class

   Confirm you can sponsor, and choose the family class (outland) or the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class (inland).

2. 2

   Prepare and pay

   Use IRCC's application package and document checklist. Pay the fees online, including the right of permanent residence fee (RPRF) now or later, and usually the biometrics fee.

3. 3

   Submit both applications

   The person you sponsor submits the sponsorship and permanent residence applications together through IRCC's Permanent Residence Portal. Incomplete applications are returned.

4. 4

   Acknowledgement and checks

   IRCC sends an AOR, assesses you as a sponsor, and checks that the person is eligible and admissible. The person has 30 days from IRCC's letter to give biometrics, and must also complete medical exams and police certificates.

5. 5

   Quebec undertaking

   Quebec residents submit their undertaking to Quebec's ministry (MII) only when IRCC says to, and on or after their date in Quebec's intake schedule. Quebec returns undertakings sent early.

6. 6

   Decision

   A person abroad receives a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR), and a visa if needed. A person in Canada confirms permanent residence online.

You can withdraw your sponsorship only before the person becomes a permanent resident. If IRCC refuses you as a sponsor and you chose to withdraw in that case, you get all fees back except the sponsorship fee.

The RPRF is refunded if the application is withdrawn or refused (after a refusal, you must first decline your right of appeal). Medical exams and police certificates are paid separately, and Quebec charges its own fees.

No income test applies to a spouse or partner without children, a spouse or partner whose children have no children, or a dependent child with no children (IRPR s. 133(4)). You must meet the LICO if you sponsor a dependent child who has a child, or a spouse or partner whose dependent child has a child. You show this on the Financial Evaluation form (IMM 1283). The LICO also applies to other relatives.

PGP sponsors must meet this level in each of the 3 tax years before applying, based on Canada Revenue Agency notices of assessment (IRPR s. 133(1)(j)(i)(B) and s. 134(1.1)). A spouse or common-law partner can co-sign to combine incomes. Quebec residents meet Quebec's income rules instead.

Quebec residents give their undertaking to Quebec, which sets its own periods; for parents and grandparents it is 10 years. Processing times below are IRCC's live figures.

• Relationship not genuine or mainly for immigration (IRPR s. 4(1)): thin evidence of a shared life or inconsistent interview answers.
• Relationship does not fit the definition: less than 12 months of proven cohabitation, or a conjugal partner who could in fact have married or lived together.
• Excluded relationship: an undeclared family member (IRPR s. 117(9)(d)), or a new spouse while an earlier spousal undertaking is in effect.
• Sponsor ineligibility: social assistance, unpaid support or debts, a disqualifying conviction, the 5-year bar, or a permanent resident sponsor living abroad.
• Income not met where required, for example PGP sponsors short in any of the 3 tax years.
• Inadmissibility of the sponsored person on criminal, medical or security grounds.
• Misrepresentation (IRPA s. 40): false documents or hidden facts can mean refusal and a 5-year bar.
• Incomplete applications, which IRCC returns.

Right of appeal. A family class sponsor can appeal a refusal to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRPA s. 63(1)). The IAD must receive the notice of appeal and documents within 30 days of your receiving the refusal. It can allow an appeal for an error of law or fact, a breach of natural justice, or on humanitarian and compassionate grounds (IRPA s. 67).

• No appeal if the person is inadmissible for security, human or international rights violations, sanctions, serious criminality or organized criminality (IRPA s. 64(1)).
• No appeal of a misrepresentation refusal unless the person is your spouse, common-law partner or child (IRPA s. 64(3)).
• Humanitarian grounds are considered only if the person is a member of the family class and you are an eligible sponsor (IRPA s. 65), so they do not help an excluded relationship.
• Inland spousal refusals cannot be appealed to the IAD. Judicial review in the Federal Court requires a lawyer.

A person approved from abroad lands with their COPR before it expires; a border services officer makes the final decision at the port of entry.

The undertaking starts on the day they become a permanent resident. You provide for basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and dental, eye and other health care not covered publicly. Public health coverage may not start right away, so check your province's rules.